Playing in two strong series like “Anna et Arnaud” and “Audrey is back” could have prompted Ellicyane Paradis to drop out of her classes at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe theater school. Lucid and well surrounded, the 21-year-old actress preferred to return to campus this fall to begin the last year of her training.
“I decided to stay in school to get my diploma and to broaden my horizons, especially in the game,” she said in an interview with QMI Agency.
“It was a heartbreaking choice, as I turned down some tempting projects this summer, but it gave me comfort that if I got offers now, I can start auditioning again this winter.”
She missed few days of school for the filming of these two series produced by Pixcom. And unlike other institutions that require their students to give up any projects during their training – talk to Amaryllis Tremblay who had to leave “Six Degrees” after the first season due to an Art Conservatory policy drama of Montreal –, Ellicyane, she was able to present herself on the sets.
In “Anna et Arnaud”, she plays Charlotte, Arnaud’s (Nico Racicot) blonde when he is the victim of an attempted murder in the middle of the street, which, one suspects, makes him deviate of its trajectory.
“Charlotte was hurt too. She accompanies Arnaud after all that, but at the same time Arnaud starts to fall into drugs again, and that’s not what she wants. She is an ambitious girl, she wants to go to university and she wants a stable life. She will accompany him in the trial that will follow the incident because she cares about him, but at the same time there is a reluctance too, ”mentioned the actress.
She feels blessed to have worked with Guylaine Tremblay, who plays Anna, Arnaud’s mother, in this adaptation of Francine Ruel’s novel “Anna and the old child”. “All the trial scenes, I was a lot with Guylaine and Alexis Martin [le père d’Arnaud] who told me lots of theater tour anecdotes between takes. They are very generous and it was great to see them work, to see how quickly they get emotional, how they listen.”
The most beautiful experience of his life
In “Audrey is back”, original series of Club illico acclaimed here – five Gemini, including that of the best comedy – and abroad – two prizes at the Cannesseries festival -, she lends her features to the young Audrey. She had to shave her hair in front of the camera, which gave her a lot of confidence for the rest of the adventure, she pointed out.
“As soon as I started cutting, I was automatically at peace, it was a unique experience and it gave me confidence for the rest of the shoot,” she said, recalling that the director Guillaume Lonergan shaved his own head to do some tests before capturing the Ellicyane scene.
“” Audrey is back “is the most beautiful experience of my life, because I discovered everything and I learned a lot,” said the actress, who also observed a lot by doing figuration from the age of 16, in particular on the set of the youth series “The Academy”.
The “Anna et Arnaud” series is presented every Tuesday at 8 p.m. on TVA. As for “Audrey is back”, the series is available on Club illico and will also be presented on Télé-Québec every Thursday, at 8 p.m., starting September 29.